But the emporium’s visitors are shopping–a lot. While most of the luxury industry is in the economic doldrums, Dolce & Gabbana is thriving. Last year, as its competitors scaled back forecasts, the company posted a 41 percent increase in revenues, to 445 million euros. In addition to the men’s store, the company recently opened a dozen new boutiques in Japan and is renovating two shops in Milan–for its accessories and its vintage collections. This spring it will inaugurate a store in Munich, its first in Germany. Last fall the company moved into its new state-of-the-art headquarters in Milan, a sprawling seven-floor office with black lava-stone floors straight from Mount Etna and glass walls that afford striking views of the baroque city.
Besides selling its own products well, Dolce & Gabbana is influencing fashion across the board. This winter, companies such as H&M, the Gap and Zara have all imitated Dolce & Gabbana’s rough-hewn woolens and rustic furs. And the pair’s fall-winter 2003-04 womenswear collection, to be shown in Milan next week, will no doubt set copyists, retailers and magazine editors scribbling. “Dolce & Gabbana have been one of the trend leaders in fashion for some time now,” says Tom Julian, a trend analyst for Fallon Worldwide. “Everyone copied their shearlings, their flower prints, their worn leathers and suede. For such a small company, they are really an international powerhouse.”
Dolce & Gabbana has always thought small and intimate, which is what makes the company a jewel in luxury’s treasure chest. The pair launched their personal and professional relationship in the early ’80s: Dolce, 19, was the son of a Sicilian tailor and a fashion-school dropout; Gabbana was a 23-year-old graphic-design student from Milan who didn’t want to pursue graphic design. Instead, they scraped together 2 million lire (about $1,000) to start their company, and made their debut in the 1984 New Talents show in Milan. They had two role models: “Coco Chanel for structure of the house,” says Gabbana, “and Giorgio Armani for focus.”
They turned to Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren and Madonna for inspiration, and established a reputation among the fashion set for their ’50s-style wasp-waist dresses and razor-sharp tailored suits. In 1991, Dolce and Gabbana got their big publicity break when Madonna wore one of their jeweled corsets, a satin duster coat, stockings and garter belt for the premiere of her concert documentary, “Truth or Dare.” Two years later they made 1,500 costumes for her “Girlie Show” tour and have dressed her ever since.
Dolce & Gabbana’s list of regular clients reads like a gossip column: Kate Winslet, Angelina Jolie, Kylie Minogue and Whitney Houston are all devotees. Jennifer Lopez wore a turquoise chiffon number to last year’s Grammys. Mary J. Blige and Alicia Keys ordered Dolce & Gabbana costumes for their concert tours. “Their work is a perfect mix of modern and classic, drawing from their deeply Italian roots, but with a breath of real internationalism,” says Italian actress Monica Bellucci, who has been wearing Dolce & Gabbana ever since she modeled for the company in the early ’90s. “You feel their clothes as one with yourself.”
But it takes more than movie and pop stars to make a business work, especially in such tough economic times. Dolce & Gabbana has succeeded for two reasons: first, it’s remained resolutely a high-fashion clothing business. While most luxury companies flaunt their finest couture creations to draw the crowds to buy lower-priced, mass-produced items such as wallets, handbags and even house paint, Dolce & Gabbana’s premium ready-to-wear line accounts for the majority of the company’s sales. The few licenses it has–for eyewear, perfume, watches and the younger D&G line–make up only 13 percent of sales. Second, Dolce & Gabbana has remained a small, privately owned company in an industry rife with corporate takeovers and IPOs. This has allowed the firm to maintain close, solid relations with its customers and to remain free to make quick business decisions when needed. “When you don’t have to report to shareholders or justify your decisions to anyone, it makes the process easier,” says Cristiana Ruelle, Dolce & Gabbana’s general-affairs director.
Not that luxury-group tycoons haven’t tried to gobble up the company. Gucci Group recently sat down with Dolce and Gabbana and presented an official proposal. But the duo simply shrugged. “They didn’t offer us anything that we don’t already have–except more money,” says Gabbana, sitting on the leopard-print sofa in the living room of Villa Volpi, their 19th-century palazzo in the center of Milan, one of their four sumptuous homes. “And I don’t have enough time to spend the money I have. It’s not the point of my life or why I do this job.” Dolce laughs, and concurs. “We do this because the cut of clothes is in our blood,” he says. “It’s not a job. It’s our life.” And a sweet one at that.
